32 
Notes wr itten during a late Residence at Buenos Ayres * [Aug.!, 
arms have been established by the go¬ 
vernment. The latter is conducted 
with most spirit, but both are occasion¬ 
ally paralysed by the want of money. 
The old elmrcli of the Resklencia , which 
formerly belonged to the Jesuits, is 
used for the founderv. 
In September 1SI5, there lay in the 
first court of the manufactury of small 
arms, a mass of native iron,"brought 
from a vast plain in the province of 
Tucuman , where there is a great quan¬ 
tity more, lying as this lay, on the sur¬ 
face of the ground. It might weigh 
about twenty-five hundred weight. I 
was astonished to see them cutting it, 
having heated a part, as easily as any 
oilier piece of hammered iron, this be¬ 
ing malleable by nature. I also saw 
where it had been cut cold by a chissel. 
The supermtendant Don Esteban de 
Luca , a Creole of superior intelligence, 
had ordered a pair of pistols to he made 
from it for the government, as a sam¬ 
ple of American manufacture from 
American production. 
Water from the river is carried about 
the town in carts, and sold by men 
whoso business it is; at first it is muddy, 
but when settled, excellent. The well 
water is brackish and unpleasant to 
drink ; it contains lime, as may he 
found by trying it with oxalic acid. 
This is probably from the tosca , as 
neither limestone nor chalk are found 
at any depth. 
The most abundant animals are ori¬ 
ginally from imported stock ; horses, 
oxen, sheep, and dogs. 
Horses are extremely abundant and 
cheap, from four to ten dollars is the 
common price of one, yet a Chilian 
horse, which is a superior animal, sells 
for three or four hundred. They are 
so common, that a beggar on horseback, 
who rides about asking alms, is no un¬ 
common sight. 
Our proverbs will not all apply in 
this country. The horses are small and 
of no particular cast. In England they 
would be thought nothing of; rough 
heels, large carcases, white legs and 
faces, are not thought blemishes. There 
are, however, excellent horses amongst 
them, mostly pacers; they are generally 
sure-footed, and capable of enduring 
fatigue, and without the vices of kick¬ 
ing or biting. The tail is always kept 
long and flowing, which is both natural 
and graceful; very few are ever shod, 
and those chiefly on the fore feet. The 
Creoles are excellent horsemen, they 
sit firm and upright, and never rise in 
the saddle. They have excellent bridles 
differing from the English make, and 
a kind of saddle well adapted to the 
country. They use small stirrups, so 
that the foot cannot enter far. This 
form is much safer, and with a little 
practice, pleasanter than the large Eng¬ 
lish stirrup. The saddle consists of a 
frame shaped the same before and be¬ 
hind, this is placed over a rug, and 
upon it are put other rugs and shins, 
which at night in the country form a 
bed, the frame serving for a pillow. 
The whole is called a recado , an Eng¬ 
lish saddle sill a. 
The common food of horses is green 
lucerne, sold in small bundles. Oats 
are not grown except a few for seed* 
and to cut green, and no hay is made, 
as there is green food all the year. The 
horses used in carts about the town, 
draw from the girth , a most barbarous 
method. The e-arts, both for horses 
and oxen, are of the rudest construe - 
tion, and have not a single particle of 
iron about them. The arms of the 
axle are horizontal, and the wheels 
upright, lofty, and cylindrical. Much 
may be said, and much has been writ¬ 
ten in England in favour of this con¬ 
struction. Mules are numerous, and 
are used for the few coaches seen in 
the town, and to work in mills. 
Black cattle, as is well known, are 
more abundant than in any other part 
of the world. They are a fine breed, 
all horned, large, and handsome, are 
excellent meat, and for draught. Cows 
give hut a small quantity of milk. 
Milk, however, is tolerably cheap, like 
beef; it is sold'by the eye, so much for 
a rial , according to the judgment of 
the vender. It is sold by dirty boys, 
who carry it through the streets on 
horseback. Butter is very had and 
dear, being about Is. 9d. sterling per 
pound. Their cheese too, is miserable, 
but some from Chili is of an excellent 
quality. 
Oxen work by pairs, a strong beam 
of wood, about six feet long, lies one 
end on the head of each, and is fasten¬ 
ed by straps round the bottom of their 
horns. From the middle of this beam 
is the draught, and here sits the driver 
with his goad. They are not made to 
draw a great weight, and, as Avell as 
the draught horses, are very ill ma¬ 
naged. 
The oxen killed for the market come 
from the estaneias. or farms, in herds 
of 
